Prevalence,
Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the first decade
of the 21st Century gvnet.com/streetchildren/Pakistan.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
and accompanying text have been culled from the web to illuminate the
situation in Pakistan. Some of these
links may lead to websites that present allegations that are unsubstantiated
or even false. No attempt has been made to validate their authenticity
or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking for
material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on this
page and others to see which aspect(s) of street life are of particular
interest to you. You might be
interested in exploring how children got there, how they survive, and how
some manage to leave the street.
Perhaps your paper could focus on how some street children abuse the
public and how they are abused by the public … and how they abuse each
other. Would you like to write about
market children? homeless children? Sexual and labor exploitation? begging? violence? addiction? hunger? neglect? etc. There is a lot to the subject of Street
Children. Scan other countries as well
as this one. Draw comparisons between
activity in adjacent countries and/or regions. Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. Teachers Check out some of
the Resources
for Teachers attached to this website. ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Caring for children The News
International, January 28, 2008 www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=93308 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2008/01/28/caring-for-children/ [accessed 30 June
2011] The rise in
incidents of street crime in Karachi and other cities of Pakistan has been
the subject of a report released this week by a local NGO. What the report
highlights is the growing number of street children involved in this
activity. This is cause for alarm. There has been a significant rise in the
number of street children, particularly in Karachi says the report adding
that the reasons for children running away from their homes include domestic
violence, sexual abuse and corporal punishment at schools, especially madressahs. This is an issue that has to be dealt in a
proactive manner. It may be noted that street children end up joining gangs
which offer them protection in return for working on the streets. The gangs
force the children into prostitution and crime. There has been a rise in
child prostitution in the cities as a consequence of this. Also, incidents of petty crime have also
risen as children are forced to beg, steal and borrow to retain their gang
membership. Many of the children also turn to drugs and other substance abuse
which only complicates the problem. –sccp Plight of street
children worsens The Nation, Karachi,
April 25, 2008 www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/karachi/25-Apr-2008/Plight-of-street-children-worsens [accessed 14 October
2012] The report
indicated that street children are the victims of unplanned economic growth,
war, poverty, domestic violence and the violence at schools and madrassas, he
said. It was mentioned that majority
of street children are in the age of 13 to 18 years (79.03%) followed by
those in the age group of 9 to 12 years (15.22%) and up to 8 years old
(5.71%). Most of them belong to Punjabi community followed by Urdu, Pashto,
Burmese and Bengalese. The research revealed that majority of street children
is either orphans or affectees of broken families Majority of street
children use drugs as 92% of them admitted that they use various kinds of
drugs however 8% denied any use of drugs at any stage of their lives. About
75% of the respondents admitted that they smoke cigarettes, 70% use charas, 66% inhale glue and I5% use heroine. After having
drug a majority of 66% respondents admitted experiencing violence. Depression
is very common among street children and, while talking about the high
occurrence of physical, emotional and sexual violence, 66% of the respondents
admitted that they self-inflected themselves while 26% denied and 8% didnt give any response. About 85% cut with blades and
knives while 15% burn themselves. Street Children and
child abuse The Justice
Foundation, Pakistan tjfpk.tripod.com/children.html [accessed 1 July
2011] While most child
workers have homes to return, the street children are completely alone and at
the mercy of their employers, and circumstances night and day. Their number
of meals is one to three daily, often getting leftover from the restaurants
and eating-places in the areas they hang around. Many are also found in the
vicinity of religious shrines where people donate food for the poor. ***
ARCHIVES *** The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on
the Worst Forms of Child Labor U.S. Dept of Labor
Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 2005 www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/pakistan.htm [accessed 15
December 2010] CURRENT
GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND PROGRAMS TO ELIMINATE THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR - The provincial
government of the Punjab is making efforts to improve education and stem the
flow of yearly dropouts, estimated at four million. Programs include free
textbooks through grade 5, hiring 16,000 additional teachers, stipends to
support literacy projects for girls, and the establishment of a new
district-level monitoring team. The Northwest Frontier Province also provides
free textbooks through grade five. The
Central Zakat Council administers 56 vocational training centers in the
Punjab. Students receive a monthly stipend for attending and a tool allowance
of Rs. 5,000 (USD 87) upon completion of the
course. Due to critical needs in its
education system, the Government of Pakistan is receiving intensified support
from the World Bank in order to expedite its eligibility for fast track
financing for the Education for All program. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices U.S. Dept of State
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, March 8, 2006 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61710.htm [accessed 10
February 2020] CHILDREN
-
According to a foreign aid organization, of the 18 million children between
the ages of 5 and 9, only 42 percent were in school. Less than half of
children who enrolled completed more than five years of education. Out of
every 100 children who enrolled, only 6 completed grade 12. Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 3 October 2003 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/pakistan2003.html [accessed 15
December 2010] [78] The Committee
expresses its concern at the increasing number of street children and the
vulnerability of these children to violence, torture, sexual abuse and
exploitation, the lack of a systematic and comprehensive strategy to address
the situation and protect these children, and the very poor registration of
missing children by the police. The brave tender
souls Experience by Salman
Nizami, Greater Kashmir, 28 October 2010 www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2010/Oct/28/the-brave-tender-souls-14.asp
[accessed Oct. 29,
2010] salmannizami.blogspot.com/2010/10/brave-tender-souls-these-fate-bitten.html [accessed 26
December 2016] The weather has
suddenly turned colder in valley. The sun is hidden behind the clouds and the
jagged peaks of the mountains which overlook the city are thick with snow.
The street children are sheltering from the chill - huddling in doorways. One
boy I often see in the morning charging around near the guest house in
Shalimar where I was stayed covers his head with his ragged and blackened
jacket to give himself some relief from the cold. There are numerous children
who wait outside the guest house hoping for some work with me on the laptop,
According to them working on laptop means earning good money. Most of them
are contract labourers, shoe shiners, handicraft,
fruit, vegetable vendor boys and I have got to know a number of them. There is Ibrahim
whose serious face contrasts with his pink Mickey Mouse baseball cap, and Irfaan who is painfully thin, and constantly asks the
same question: "Mister, how are you?" And then there is Wajid, with his brown curly mop of hair and cheeky smile.
My favourite is Aabid, a
shy boy, who talks slowly in Kashmiri language. His sombre
expression belies his young age just 13. They all have similar tales, a
father dead due to the Kashmir conflict, numerous brothers and sisters, and a
family dependent on their meagre earnings for their daily bread. Male prostitution,
a hidden shame: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil Fawad Ali Shah, Daily
Times, Karachi, January 13, 2009 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\01\13\story_13-1-2009_pg12_9 [accessed 30 June
2011] [accessed 26
December 2016] Despite the fact
that the phenomenon is increasing by the minute, no government body or NGO
has conducted a survey to find out exactly how many men are in this business. However, he said
that there was a need for the collection of the exact numbers of males in the
prostitution business as well as their customers to spread awareness about the
diseases that sprout from the phenomenon. “There are almost 30,000 street
children in the country, who are usually the victims of sexual abuse, as time
progresses these children are so used to being exploited that they decide to
use the exploitation to earn quick money,” he added. Male-prostitutes are
without a doubt spreading many diseases however, no one cares about it, as
the issue for most people is non-existent, Dharejo
adds. Development:
Protecting Pakistan’s children – Punjab Child Helpline
(1121) Syed Mohammad Ali,
Daily Times, December 09, 2008 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\12\09\story_9-12-2008_pg3_3 [accessed 1 July
2011] Punjab is the only
government to have established a Child Protection and Welfare Bureau and
Child Courts. CPWB and its branches are operating now in Gujranwala, Multan,
Rawalpindi, Rahim Yar Khan and Faisalabad, and it
is in the process of setting up brances in Sialkot
and Bahawalpur. CPWB claims that it has rescued nearly 10,000 street children
and nearly 9,000 of them have been reunited with their parents since 2005.
CPWB is also aiming to support 10,000 families of street children without
bread-earners. A child helpline (1121)
is also available which can be called to report destitute or street children
engaged in begging or drug abuse. HIV/AIDS increasing
in country Amer Malik, The News
International, Lahore, December 01, 2008 www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=149992&Cat=5&dt=11/30/2008 [accessed 30 June
2011] Most of the 15,000-20,000
estimated child sex workers present in Lahore live in areas near bus stands
and railway station. Male child prostitution is more common than any other
form of commercial sexual exploitation in Pakistan. Though the trend of
selling organs (kidney.) for cash does not seem to have caught hold in Lahore
or was not reported, quite a few children were aware of the fact that they
could sell their blood for money if the need arose. The limited blood
screening facilities make such practice extremely unsafe and can spread
HIV/AIDS on a rapid scale. Though not a single child admitted to resorting to
this practice, they had come to know about this through adult drug addicts. In Pakistan, the
estimated population aged below 18 years is 71 million, and 3.6 million
children are involved in child labour. About 1.2 million children are on the
streets in Pakistan’s large cities, working as beggars, vendors or shoeshine
boys. Incidents of child
abuse rarely reported Irfan Aligi, Daily Times, Karachi, November 04, 2008 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\11\04\story_4-11-2008_pg12_11 [accessed 30 June
2011] “We have conducted
a study on violence against street children and the data we have collected is
quite shocking, and what is most appalling is that children studying at
religious seminaries also fall victim to sexual violence,” claimed Habib. He
added that it is common practice amongst parents, especially from the lower
strata of the society, prefer to send their children to Madressahs
as compared to formal schooling systems. According to the
study, 21 percent of Madressah students have been
sexually abused by their teachers. Fifty-two percent of students were
sexually harassed, 28 percent had complained of unpleasant touching and 20 percent
complained of forced sex, said Habib. Almost ninety
percent of sexually violent acts against children occur on the streets, seven
percent of the children denied any sexual abuse on the streets and three
percent of these children had no idea about any such happenings. Thirty-three
percent of the children who were sexually abused on the streets revealed that
they were abused by people in police departments, while 22 percent of them
held workers of political, social and religious parties responsible, claimed
Habib. This is not the end
of the shocking list, as shopkeepers, strangers, gang leaders, private
security guards and drivers were also held responsible for sexual violence.
Twenty percent of the children reported that 20 percent of strangers, 12 percent
of shopkeepers, 11 percent of gang leaders, 14 percent of private security
guards and 22 percent drivers were among the perpetuators of sexual violence
against them. –
sccp Child abuse
mushrooming as shops offering ‘services’ spring up Qadeer Hussain, The News
International, Karachi, November 01, 2008 thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=144233&Cat=4&dt=11/1/2008 [accessed 30 June
2011] Tauqeer went to school for
a while but soon developed a habit of running away from home. In the
beginning, he started selling tissue papers at Sea View and earned Rs100 to
Rs120 daily. However, two years ago,
one of his friends, Naveed (not his real name) asked him to visit Jahangir
Park, near the Pedestrian Bridge, (which does not exist now), “to earn more
money.” According to Tauqeer, the world of the Pedestrian Bridge “was
altogether a different world.” This was the meeting point for male child
prostitutes and their clients. According to Tauqeer, more than 300 children are engaged in this area
alone. “There are two categories of children involved. A majority are street children who earn their
livelihood through this mean. Then there are kids who belong to poor families
and visit the bridge to earn some extra money,” he says. – sccp Two million youth
in Karachi drug addicts Pakistan Press
International PPI, Karachi, October 26, 2008 www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/karachi/26-Oct-2008/Two-million-youth-in-Karachi-drug-addicts [accessed 14 October
2012] In Karachi the main
addiction is of Hashish, because this drug is easily available at every nook
and corner of the city. The main trafficking areas of hashish are Chanessar Goth, Dhobi Ghat and Massan near Keamair, he
said. In Karachi more than 25000
children are living on streets and they are highly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, as
they are also involved in sexual activities, he said, adding that 74 % of
these street children are addicts. He said drug supply is available all
around the city through those street children. PAKISTAN: Return of
"lost" boys highlights the plight of street children UN Integrated
Regional Information Networks IRIN, Karachi, 22 September 2008 www.irinnews.org/report/80510/pakistan-return-of-lost-boys-highlights-the-plight-of-street-children [accessed 10 March
2015] Asif, 16, was among
53 "lost" boys, aged between eight and 16, who boarded the bus on the
morning of 16 August to return to his parents' house. Asif remembers he
had four siblings and cannot wait to go home. "I think I will be able to
recognise them once I see them," he says. But
he was just nine when he got lost, in a market, and eventually found himself
in Karachi. NUMBERS RISING - Social workers
say Pakistan has a large population of runaway or lost kids, estimating their
number at more than 70,000. Navaid Hasan Khan of
Azad Foundation, an organisation working with
street children, estimates there are between 13,000 and 15,000 in Karachi
alone and the number is increasing. The UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, estimates
there are 10,000 in Karachi. Many of the parents
who took back the children "were ecstatic to see them, but they told us
they will send them back to us as it means one less mouth to feed", he
said. 'Rat people' forced
to beg on Pakistan's streets Agence France-Presse AFP, Gujrat, Pakistan, Aug 1, 2008 afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOmE7u7DlUpw1GwT37ut9uc1xf7A [accessed 15
December 2010] www.smh.com.au/world/rat-people-forced-to-beg-on-pakistans-streets-20080801-3oqf.html [accessed 26
December 2016] "Some of these
children, the handicapped ones especially, are accompanied by
relatives," he told AFP. "But begging gangs also look for poor
parents who will sell them because they are a burden to feed and
shelter." Sohail
said his department had busted more than 30 gangs across the province
involved in exploiting street children,
some of which had broken the limbs of children so that they would earn more
as beggars. –
htsc Deadly ‘token’
heroin emerges as Karachi’s drug of choice DAWN/The News
International, Karachi, 3 July 2008 www.pakistantelegraph.com/index.php?sid/15933923/scat/8c3d7d78943a99c7 [accessed 11
Aug 2013] Over the past four
months, newly-introduced cheap, substandard heroin has proved to be fatal to
child drug addicts on the streets. The new brand of heroin, also known among
the children as “token” or “Sanghara,” is widely
available throughout the city at Rs12 per sachet. Children who previously used the well-known
glue Samad Bond are the biggest “token” addicts.
They can no longer afford Samad Bond. A pack that cost
Rs75 in 2000 is now being traded at Rs170.
“What other choice have I got?” says Tufail,
a child on the streets who switched to token after the price of Samad Bond went up.
Token is the cheapest option available. It is also one of the most
lethal. According to a
spokesman of the Edhi Foundation, children living
on the streets who are also drug addicts die before reaching the age of 23.
Over the past six months, he said, 145 bodies of heroin addicts had been
picked up off the streets. Forty percent were children. City faces alarming
rise in addicts, juvenile beggars Shafi Baloch, The Nation,
Karachi, July 03, 2008 http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Karachi/03-Jul-2008/City-faces-alarming-rise-in-addicts-juvenile-beggars [accessed 14 October
2012] Owing to the
rampant unemployment of their parents due to off-fishing season, a number of
fishermen’s children have started involving in begging and drug trafficking
and this trend has resulted in a sharp rise in the number street children
making their percentage up to 40 % in the metropolitan. PAKISTAN: 1.2
Million Street Children Abandoned and Exploited Asia Child Rights
ACR, Weekly Newsletter Vol. 4, No. 18 (04 May 2005) acr.hrschool.org/mainfile.php/0228/461/ [accessed 1 July
2011] paknewscentre.wordpress.com/2005/04/10/pakistans-1-2-million-street-children-abandoned-exploited/ [accessed 26 December
2016] An estimated 1.2
million children are on the streets of Pakistan's major cities and urban centres, constituting the country's largest and most ostracised social group. These include 'Runaway' children
who live or work on the street, as well as the minority that return to their
families at the end of the day with their meagre earnings. "World Vision
is gravely concerned with their growing numbers. Children are turningto the streets amidst increasing poverty,
unemployment, swelling family size and social disintegration seen in abuse in
schools, as well as domestic violence, neglect and family breakdown,"
said World Vision Country Director, Sigurd Hanson. "Street
wise" as early as four, these children beg and scavenge around rubbish
dumps or industrial waste sites or take on menial jobs as cart pushers or
dish washers, working 12-15 hours a day to earn around 75 rupees or US.25-
enough to buy a meal if they are fortunate. Most survive by prostituting
themselves, stealing or smuggling, making them vulnerable to contracting
sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Jaundice and liver
or kidney disorders. A large proportion sniffs cheap, readily available
solvents to starve off hunger, loneliness and fear. Seminar on corporal
punishment: 35,000 school students drop out every year Daily Times,
Islamabad, May 01, 2008 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\05\01\story_1-5-2008_pg11_4 [accessed 1 July
2011] www.irinnews.org/report/78275/pakistan-corporal-punishment-key-reason-school-dropouts [accessed 26
December 2016] Thirty-five
thousand students drop out of high school every year in the country due to
corporal punishment in schools and homes, said Qindeel
Shujaat, Executive Director, Society for Protection
of Rights of the Child (SPARC), in a seminar “Media Consultation on Child
Rights and Protection Issues” on Wednesday. Shujaat said corporal
punishment in schools and homes, a culturally accepted form of child abuse,
had resulted in high dropout rate from schools and ever-growing number of
runaway children on the streets. Shujaat said Pakistan had one of the highest dropout rate
from schools in the world that is 50 per cent and there were about 70,000
street children nationwide. 25,000 street
children vulnerable to diseases The News
International, 08 April 2008 www.apnakarachi.com/25000-street-children-vulnerable-to-diseases.html [accessed 1 July
2011] streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/25000-street-children-vulnerable-to-diseases/ [accessed 26
December 2016] They urged the
government to create awareness on HIV and Aids and other sex related diseases
to save street children. Speakers said
more than 25,000 children were living on streets in the city. They said there
were some 70,000 children living on the streets in the country. An estimated
7,000 children live on the streets in Lahore, 10,000 in Faisalabad, 2,500 in
Quetta, 3,000 in Rawalpindi and 5,000 in Peshawar. Nazra Jahan of Sparc
said street children were one of the most vulnerable groups for all forms of
exploitation. They were at high risk of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV
and AIDS because of their early exposure to both heterosexual and homosexual
practices. Children on an empty
stomach on empty streets Amar Guriro, Daily Times, Karachi, December 31, 2007 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\12\31\story_31-12-2007_pg12_4 [accessed 1 July
2011] amarguriro.com/author/admin/page/58/ [accessed 26
December 2016] At a time when all
the commerce in Karachi is facing a shutdown and there is an acute shortage
of basic necessities in the city like food and fuel, no one is finding the
going tougher than the street-children of Karachi. “I have not had a single bite to eat since
yesterday morning as I was unable to find anything,” said nineteen-year-old Sajid, whose sustenance comes from the charity given at
the shrines and different hotels of Karachi. 9,000
sexually-abused street-children in City www.chowk.com/applefire/iLogs/life/Child-prostitution-in-Pakistan [accessed 30 June
2011] UNICEF Programme Officer Shamshad
Qureshi announced the results of a UNICEF survey that there are 10, 000
street children in Lahore, out of which 9,000 children have been sexually abused.
He said UNICET could reach only 3,000 sexually abused children and
rehabilitate them by giving them vocational training, psychological aid and
financial support to their parents. The study also revealed that 51 percent
of street children suffered HIV through injections in Sargodha. – sccp School with no
buildings gives hope Umber Khairi, BBC News, Rawalpindi, 15 October 2007 news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7028159.stm [accessed 1 July 2011] Tucked away in a
quiet corner in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi is a school that is creating
an astonishing change in the lives of the city's street children. City centres thronged by street children Terence J Sigamony, Daily Times, Rawalpindi, October 01, 2007 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\10\01\story_1-10-2007_pg11_8 [accessed 1 July
2011] streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2007/09/30/city-centres-thronged-by-street-children/ [accessed 26
December 2016] Children at Pirwadahi and Faizabad are
living in unhygienic and squalid conditions. They live in under-construction
buildings, hotel basements and verandas of bus stands. Majority of such
children has come to the city with expectations to fend for themselves or
their families through various occupations but after arriving here, they
discovered that streets were not paved with gold. Saiqa Ashraf, a
psychologist working on child sexual abuse, said these children become
criminals, terrorists, revolutionaries, drug addicts and abusers. “They are
starving and ignorant, destined to become thieves or victims of child sexual
abuse. The girls become prostitutes but there is also male prostitution. The
boys are uncontrollably violent and have lost the ability to feel emotions
such as love. For the most part they are amoral,” she commented. Curbing beggary
among children: CDGR to open seven child protection centres Terence J Sigamony, Daily Times, Rawalpindi, August 28, 2007 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\08\28\story_28-8-2007_pg11_5 [accessed 1 July
2011] The City District Government
Rawalpindi (CDGR) with the help of the Punjab government will set up seven
protection centres for street children below the
age of 14, City District Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas told Daily Times
on Monday. He said the RCDG had rented
seven houses in Morgha and Kotha
Kalan for opening the child protection centres,
which would soon be inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. An army of
beggars has swarmed the length of Rawalpindi city owing to the government’s
failure to launch a crackdown on them or provide them with alternative means
of livelihood. The beggars throng shopping centres,
streets, roads, restaurants and food outlets, with their number swelling day
by day. Begging women, children and disabled men and women of all ages can be
seen pestering motorists and pedestrians at intersections, outside mosques
and markets from early morning till late at night. Shelter for street
children arranged The News
International, August 26, 2007 www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/69327-phc-summons-police-officers [accessed 26
December 2016] A local NGO Sehar foundation has arranged temporary shelters for the
protection of street children against torrential rains at different marriage
halls in Karachi. The management of
these halls not only agreed that their spaces be used for this purpose but
also took upon the responsibility to arrange meals for these children. Pakistan has highest
infant mortality rate in South Asia: SPARC Daily Times, Lahore,
June 30, 2007 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\30\story_30-6-2007_pg7_23 [accessed 1 July
2011] www.medindia.net/news/Pak-Has-South-Asias-Highest-Infant-Mortality-Rate-Report-22881-1.htm [accessed 27
December 2016] The report gave a
dark picture of the Pakistani children’s condition. About 6.463 million
children did not go to school, which was the second largest number of such
children in a country, it said. In Karachi alone the number of street
children was 25,000 and almost four children were sexually molested daily. Pahchaan planning drop-in centre for street kids Daily Times, Lahore,
May 16, 2007 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\05\16\story_16-5-2007_pg7_37 [accessed 1 July
2011] streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2007/05/16/pahchaan-planning-drop-in-centre-for-street-kids/ [accessed 27
December 2016] Dr Naeem Zafar, president of Pehchaan,
said the NGO was providing several services including food and shelter, skill
building courses, hygiene courses, rest and recreation, psycho-social
counselling, detoxification and legal protection. Also, the organisation was educating 200 street
and working children in the city. Police encouraged
to cooperate with street children The News
International, Karachi, March 3, 2007 www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/45009-police-encouraged-to-cooperate-with-street-children [accessed 26
December 2016] A situation
analysis of Karachi conducted by The Azad Foundation further revealed the
criminal record of street children. More than half of them had a criminal
record. On average, approximately 3,500 street children have remained in
police custody for 2-7 days. Data also showed that more than 3,000 were
charged of theft, 3200 were arrested for drug addiction, and more than 2,000
claimed to be arrested without any reason. Horrific fate
awaits children spurned by society Aroosa Masroor
Khan, The News, Karachi, February 22, 2007 www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=43990 At one time this article
had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here]
Consequently, an
increasing trend in sex exploitation was also witnessed over the years. As
disclosed by the street children near Bahadurabad
and Allahwala Chowrangi,
they continue to be harassed and sexually abused at the hands of passers-by.
Due to this fear, these children prefer spending most of their time at
drop-in centres that are operational during the
day. “We feel more scared at night because that is when truck drivers and
policemen harass us, but this centre is helpful because they teach us self-defence techniques,” says 13-year-old Umair Ali who has been living on the street for four
years after he ran away from home because his family pressurised
him to get a job. Most of the
children, spotted in Saddar, Karimabad, Tariq Road,
Kala Pul and parts of Clifton, when refused job
opportunities, resort to pick-pocketing or sell sex for their day-to-day
survival. The money earned is then spent on addictives like cigarettes, drugs
and inhalants, mostly glues such as ‘Samad Bond’.
“There are a lot of small hotels and restaurants that offer us food so that
is never an issue for us. We don’t earn to make a living. The streets are
where we spend our lives. It’s the drugs we need money for,” adds Umair, who further revealed that he was addicted to glue
sniffing, a habit he is unwilling to give up. – htsccp Findings show
dismal state of children in country Mohammad Kamran,
Daily Times, ISLAMABAD, February 19, 2007 www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\02\19\story_19-2-2007_pg11_1 [accessed 2 July
2011] Child
rights groups have estimated that over 50,000 children live on the streets of
Pakistan, while most of the juvenile population continues to be vulnerable to
bonded labour, harassment, sexual abuse and trafficking, and lacks access to health,
education and other basic needs. Many street
children are also addicted to drugs and have been sexually assaulted. It has
been reported that 56 percent of street children run away from their homes
due to domestic violence, 22 percent because of hostile behaviour
of their parents and 12 percent due to their parents’ drug addiction. Parents renting children
out to gangs: Report Internews, Karachi, January
29, 2007 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/parents-renting-children-out-to-gangs-report/ [accessed 27
December 2016] Referring to such
reports, he said as early as four, these children beg and scavenge around
rubbish dumps or industrial waste sites and took on menial jobs as
cart-pushers or dishwashers working 12-15 hours a day to earn around Rs75 —
enough to buy a meal. A report compiled
by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) said most children survive by prostituting
themselves and stealing, making them vulnerable to contracting sexually
transmitted diseases (STDs) such as HIV/Aids.
“They are also at high risk from health problems such as tuberculosis,
jaundice and kidney disorders.” The report suggests
that 83 per cent of street children were sniffing glue between the ages of
eight to nineteen. Some 54 per cent left home at age 10-12 while 45 per cent
children living on the streets are involved in crimes and 49 per cent are at
high risk of HIV/Aids. Pakistan street
kids plagued by glue sniffing Waheed Khan, Reuters,
KARACHI, Jan 8, 2007 www.reuters.com/article/2007/01/08/idUSISL114216 [accessed 2 July
2011] The Pakistan
Medical Association says substance abuse among street children has reached
alarming levels. "If more is not
done soon, Pakistan is heading for a street children hooked on glue crisis on
the scale of other countries like Morocco and Brazil," said Qaiser Sajjad, the
association's general-secretary. There are about 14,000 street children in
Karachi and most are sniffing glue, said Aksa Zainab, a social worker who
helps street kids at a drop-in centre operated by the Azad Foundation in
cooperation with UNICEF. Vulnerable and
helpless on the street Amir Zia, The News
International, December 20, 2006 www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/35951-vulnerable-and-helpless-on-the-street [accessed 27
December 2016] A majority of them
are drug addicts. The most popular and affordable of the durg
is a type of glue -- used mostly in home repair and maintenance -- which
these children inhale by putting it on a piece of cloth. One can see young
boys sniffing this glue openly on the streets and pavements that according to
one user, "tingles nose and make one slightly drowsy." The use of
other drugs including hashish, and even heroin are also rampant among many of
these streets children. Organised gangs of criminals
-- peddling drugs or operating begging rackets -- take these children under
their wings and use them in criminal activities. Many children also resort on
their own to begging and petty crimes, raising enough money to buy themselves
food and favourite drug. Govt, masses urged to
rehabilitate street urchins www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=34580 [Last access date
unavailable] www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/34363-govt-masses-urged-to-rehabilitate-street-urchins [accessed 27
December 2016] Recalling an
incident where a child was abducted from Data Darbar
and admitted to a hospital, he said that one kidney of the child was removed
in an operation. The matter was being probed by the authorities concerned,
but the society at large was responsible for such incident. Lahore’s street
children find alternatives at UNICEF-supported centre Mary de Sousa,
United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, Lahore Pakistan, 8 November 2006 www.unicef.org/infobycountry/pakistan_36506.html [accessed 2 July
2011] Rehan, who may be
“nearly 18,” does not have the physique of a teenage boy. That’s because Rehan is actually Rehana, a
girl disguised as a boy to survive on the streets of Heera
Mandi, Lahore’s red-light district. “Can you imagine what would happen to me if
I dressed as a girl?” she asks. Street children in
Pakistan at risk of contracting Aids Internews, Islamabad,
September 4, 2006 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2006/09/04/street-children-in-pakistan-at-risk-of-contracting-aids/ [accessed 2 July
2011] The phenomenon of
street children in Pakistan poses a complex social challenge, and these
children are at the high risk of a myriad of physical and psychological
problems as a result of both the circumstances that preceded their
homelessness and the direct consequence of life on the streets. Pakistan's 1.2
million street children abandoned & exploited www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1383624 [accessed 2 July
2011] “Street wise” as early as four, these
children beg and scavenge around rubbish dumps or industrial waste sites or
take on menial jobs as cart pushers or dish washers, working 12-15 hours a
day to earn around 75 rupees or US$1.25- enough to buy a meal if they are
fortunate. Most survive by prostituting
themselves, stealing or smuggling, making them vulnerable to contracting
sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Jaundice and liver
or kidney disorders. A large
proportion sniffs cheap, readily available solvents to starve off hunger, loneliness
and fear. Number of street
children on the rise Asia Child Rights
ACR, Weekly Newsletter Vol.4, No. 25 (22 June 2005) acr.hrschool.org/mainfile.php/0236/483/ [accessed 2 July
2011] www.irinnews.org/news/2005/05/05/number-street-children-rise [accessed 27
December 2016] Living on the rough
and tumble streets of Pakistan's port city of Karachi, 12-year-old Ashique knows all too well the harsh reality of
life. "I'm not afraid. I sleep
with my friends," says the dark-haired youth, who was abandoned by his
parents. He told IRIN he dreams one
day of attending school. Karachi Has Largest
Number Of Pakistan's Street Children Indo-Asian News
Service IANS, 5/8/2005 citynewslive.com/fullstory2k5-insight-news-status-24-newsID-3716.html [accessed 2 July
2011] Poverty and
domestic physical and mental abuse "are the key factors that lead
children to begin a life on the streets.
Be it economic or social factors, street children leave their homes
for an uncertain future. Many find
work collecting waste paper, cleaning cars, working as shoe shiners or in
small eateries. Some fall back on
begging, pick-pocketing or offer themselves to sex perverts, while others end
up as drug addicts. They use inhalants
that are cheap and easily available but cause irreversible brain damage. Street Freedom -
Pakistan Mohammad Anwar,
DAWN, 12 December 2002 www.paklinks.com/gs/culture-literature-and-linguistics/81843-hired-for-a-massage.html [accessed 22 August
2011] [posted Dec 13th,
2002, 06:22 PM] Thirteen year-old
Zahid spends his nights at Cantt railway station in
Karachi. He makes his living selling whatever waste paper and bottles he can
collect and is desperate to find shelter, not to mention someone who would
care for him. Zahid has been on the
streets for three years. "I have nobody. I came to Karachi with an uncle
who promised me a job, but I was left here to fend for myself." Thousands of
Pakistani Street Children Addicted to Glue Ahmad Naeem Khan, OneWorld South
Asia, Lahore, 29 June 2004 streetchildrennews.wordpress.com/2004/06/29/thousands-of-pakistani-street-children-addicted-to-glue/ [accessed 2 July
2011] They may not have
access to drugs like heroin and marijuana, but that doesn't stop thousands of
street children in Pakistan from getting high -- with easily available glue
that often destroys addicts' health. Information about
Street Children - Pakistan [DOC] This report is taken
from “A Civil Society Forum for South Asia on Promoting and Protecting the
Rights of Street Children”, 12- 14 December 2001, Colombo, Sri Lanka At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 2 July
2011] Karachi is one of
the largest and fastest growing mega-cities in the world. High population
growth rate combined with weak economy is leading to increased poverty.
Urbanization and environmental degradation have led to widespread
displacement of rural populations to urban areas - leading in turn to social
tensions and a breakdown in family structures, thus contributing to the
increase in street children. Street Children and
Juvenile Justice in Pakistan [PDF] Pervaiz Tufail
(AMAL Human Development Network) with the assistance of Thomas Feeny and Marie Wernham
(Consortium for Street Children CSC), Spring 2004 At one time this
article had been archived and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 2 July
2011] In his trial, Iqbal
made a point of claiming that as no one ever notices when a street child
disappears, he could have gone on to kill 500 before anyone took action. The revelation of Iqbal's horrific crimes,
committed with two teen accomplices, woke up human rights groups in Pakistan
to the plight of street children in Pakistan. It brought home with a bang how
limited society's safeguards for the children were and with what gruesome
consequences. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Street Children - Pakistan",
http://gvnet.com/streetchildren/Pakistan.htm, [accessed <date>] |
